LBTL 2015: Day 5

The final day! I'm so glad it's here.

Again, I skipped breakfast and started eating in the late morning at work.

I have one raw portion of cabbage left. I tossed it with vinegar, oil, and salt for another cabbage slaw. I saved the dressing from the cabbage slaw I ate yesterday, so there was no additional cost to the seasonings. I had this as a snack for $0.13 flat.

Lentil salad. It was yummy!

I steamed up my last two portions of lentils ($0.22) to make into a lentil salad for lunch. I tossed the cooked lentils with two carrots ($0.14), the last 3 tomatoes ($0.21), 1/2 an onion ($0.05), 2 T oil ($0.12), 1 T vinegar ($0.02), and salt ($0.01). I also chopped up the final portion of roasted cabbage to add to the lentil salad ($0.16). That comes out to a whooping $0.93! But I ate some for lunch, and some for an early dinner.

I also had the last portion of potato "leek" soup from last night ($0.21).

When I got home, I added up the damage:
Cabbage slaw: $0.13
Lentil salad: $0.93
Potato leek soup: $0.21

I've got $0.23 left on my final night. I used that to whip up a final batch of potato leek soup. 2 portions of mashed potatoes ($0.12), 1 T oil ($0.06), 1/2 onion ($0.05)... and salt? Can I have some salt? I think I can. Many times this week, I charged myself a full penny for the addition of salt, but didn't use anywhere near the full teaspoon. In fact, I used less than 1/2 tsp on the lentil salad. I can use the other half to season my soup.

That means I'm ending day 5 at exactly $1.50.

The end couldn't have come soon enough. Even though I did very well this year and didn't go hungry like I did in prior years, this is tough. I find myself envious of things others are eating, almost resentful. I can't imagine what it must be like to live this way day in and day out. In fact, Live Below the Line is not a proxy of what it means to live in extreme poverty. Those who fall below the global poverty line must do everything for $1.50 a day - food, housing, transport, medical care, education... And no, $1.50 doesn't go a lot farther in their country. That figure of $1.50 is purchasing power parity - adjusted to reflect the value it would have in the U.S. That's why it's EXTREME poverty. It means having exceptionally little. Such a struggle.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this challenge. If you haven't already, please give to The Hunger Project and help empower those living below the line everyday.

LBTL 2015: Day 4

Remaining staples, without potatoes

When I got home from work, I calculated what I'd eaten during the day:

The final portion of shepherd's pie (still delicious, best thing I've made all week): $0.37
Roasted root veggies from last night: $0.28
Cabbage slaw: $0.15

Potato "leek" soup

That's a total of $0.80. $0.70 left for dinner. Deja vu. I'll need to think about lunch tomorrow as I make dinner tonight. I've finished all my leftovers - except the mountain of mashed potatoes I made on day 1. 5 portions of those remain. In fact, potatoes are the only ingredient that's not running low. I have 3.6lbs of potatoes still in the bag. And while I'm sick of them, it's the reason hunger hasn't hit this year. And even the rest of the ingredients aren't super scarce. They are certainly enough to get me through the finish line tomorrow night.

One portion of roasted cabbage. I ate three.

I decided to make something like a potato leek soup tonight. I put 3 portions of mashed potatoes ($0.18), 1 onion ($0.10), 2 T oil ($0.12) and 1 tsp of salt ($0.01) in a pot with water to boil. Of all the food I've made this week, the potato leek soup was a close second to the shepherd's pie, and far superior to the other soups I've made this week. I served out two portions at $0.21 each. I had one as an early dinner, and am looking forward to having the second at work tomorrow. $0.49 left in today's budget.

Next to the potatoes, cabbage is my most abundant resource right now. I cut 4 portions of cabbage ($0.52) into wedges and roasted with 2 T oil ($0.12) and salt ($0.01) in a 425 degree over for about 45 minutes. Each wedge comes out to about $0.16. I ate three of them as my second dinner, and saved the last for tomorrow. That brings today's total to $1.49. Barely under the line again!

Can't wait until I finish out tomorrow. It feels like it's been so much longer than it has been.

I hope you will take a stand against extreme poverty with a donation.

LBTL 2015: Day 3

Potato cabbage soup, shepherd's pie and cabbage slaw for lunch

This challenge puts me in a scarcity mindset - always a fear or anxiety of "not enough."  I smelled cinnamon rolls from a bakery I passed on my way home from work and thought "Ooo maybe I'll make cinnamon rolls when I get home... oh, I can't." And yesterday I saw a billboard for ice cream. "Mmmm, I'll have a little bit of that strawberry ice cream I've got in the freezer tonight... oh, I can't." Everything is off limits. Out of reach. So it must be to live in poverty. "No" to so many things. And harsh judgement from society if you dare say "yes."

Yesterday I was operating with an abundance mindset, and things almost got away from me. Not today. I haven't been hungry (bless that 10lb bag of potatoes!), but I haven't been having fun like I was earlier. And before I settle in to make dinner, I need to take stock of what I've spent today:

Two serving of root veggies for roasting

Leftover potato and cabbage soup, plus an added tablespoon of oil: $0.26
Cabbage slaw: $0.15
Shepherd's pie: $0.37
"Tea" and sugar: $0.02

Tomato lentil soup and roasted root veggies for dinner

That brings me to $0.80. Not bad. I can have a decent dinner for $0.70 for sure. I haven't mentioned the cabbage slaw before. I prepared two portions last night, consisting of 1/8 head of cabbage ($0.13), 2 T oil ($0.12), 2 T vinegar ($0.04) and salt ($0.01). I'll have the second portion tomorrow. The "tea" and sugar is really just sugar in terms of cost. I reused yesterday's tea bag to the bitter end. I can't afford another $0.16 tea bag.

Dinner is roasted root veggies. 3 carrots ($0.21), 5 potatoes ($0.10), 1 onion ($0.10), 2 T oil ($0.12), 1 T vinegar ($0.02), salt ($0.01). $0.56 total ingredients, and it will make two portions at $0.28 each. I'll eat one tonight and take the second for lunch tomorrow. That leaves me with $0.42 for the rest of dinner. I also lentil tomato soup. 1/4 C lentils ($0.13), 3 tomatoes ($0.21), 1 T oil ($0.06). I didn't use a full tsp of salt on the roasted veggie, so the rest of the salt will go into the soup. The lentils got away from me and burned a bit. No choice but to eat them anyway. I actually didn't mind too much. It was nice to have a different smokey flavor. I miss variety!

I ended the day at $1.48. And only two days left in the challenge! I plan to make cinnamon rolls on Friday. I could use a treat. And I'm boycotting potatoes for a month.

Big thank you to everyone who has supported me with a donation to The Hunger Project! You've really kept my spirits high.

LBTL 2015: Day 2

As I learned in previous years, skipping breakfast is a good way for me to limit my food intake. I left for work shortly after 7am, and got in around 8:30am. Around 9:30, I ate a portion of shepherd's pie, which, by the way, is just as delicious cold as it is hot.

I've never had tea in prior years of LBTL. I always want tea in the morning, but get worried I'll use up too much of my budget and find myself hungry come dinner. But I had room in the budget yesterday, so I took the risk. Tea time! PG Tips with a bit of sugar. I made two cups with the same tea bag. I do that on a normal day - PG Tips is nice strong tea, and I usually make small cups.

Around 1pm I ate two of the left over cabbage rolls I made last night. I had the third around 5pm before wrapping up work and getting on the train. Really yummy the second day. So glad I made that little impromptu tomato sauce with these. It adds a nice tang to the mild cabbage and filing.

Throughout the day I munched on carrot sticks as a snack. I've learned that eating small portions every few hours is a great way to stretch small meals. But I have to say, I never felt like I was depriving myself. My portion sizes have been generous, the food was tasty, I had a nice cup of tea, and I wasn't hungry! LBTL isn't so hard, I'm getting good at this!

I didn't watch my budget closely today because I was a total rock start yesterday. Time to figure out how much money I have left for dinner. Here's my budget breakdown pre-dinner:

The tea that stole my dinner

Tea + sugar: $0.18
Shepherd's pie: $0.37
3 cabbage rolls: $0.54
Carrot sticks: $0.21

Oh no, I've spent $1.30. Is that right?! That can't be right!! Ugh, that is right. Only two dimes to rub together for dinner. I'm sort of regretting that cup of tea... No! I regret nothing! I can do this.

Ok, so I'm going to make a soup. Potato soup. Because I can afford that. I'll make a double portion so I have one to take to work with me tomorrow. That gives me $0.40 to work with in the pot. That's not so bad. Right?

It took me 30 minutes to figure out the exact combination of ingredients I would use. I wanted an onion - $0.10. And some cabbage - $0.13. I need enough oil to keep me full. 2 T - $0.12. That leaves $0.05. 2 potatoes and 1 tsp of salt. That's what $0.05 will buy. I dug through the bag of potatoes, trying to find the biggest ones. They are all so small!! 2 potatoes would make a meager single portion. No way I could stretch that into tomorrow. Should I ditch the cabbage? Then the soup would only be potato and onion. That didn't sound too exciting. Plus, I've got 7 portions of cabbage left, and don't want to find myself eating only cabbage on day 5.

Simple potato cabbage soup

I poured 1 T of oil into the pot and added the onions. Then added 2 chopped potatoes to see how much food that really was. If it was enough, I could add more oil. It wasn't. I decided to skip the extra tablespoon of oil I wanted in the recipe. That saved me $0.06 and bought 3 more potatoes. I'm not happy about the trade off. But I really shouldn't complain. I've eaten well today.

I didn't peel any of the potatoes tonight. They went into the pot, green and all! (I googled it. I'll be fine). After sautéing the onions and potatoes with oil and salt, I added water and brought to a boil. Once the potatoes were soft, I added the chopped cabbage and boiled another 5 minutes.  This made two nice sized portions - one for tonight, one for tomorrow. It was a bit bland. Could have done with more salt, and of course more fat. But this wasn't in the budget tonight. I'll pump up the seasoning in tomorrow's portion.

So I'm off to bed full but sort of unsatisfied. I got ahead of myself today. Not bad, but I'll need to be more cautious tomorrow.

And please consider giving to those who have to live every day below the line - and stretch $1.50 to include food, housing, transport, and health care. Make a gift to The Hunger Project.

LBTL 2015: Day 1

Since I'm starting LBTL on a Sunday, I'm using today to get some cooking out of the way and have quick meals ready during the week.

Potatoes are my main food, so I want to make sure they are easily accessible when hunger strikes. I peeled and boiled 18 potatoes with 2 tsp salt to make mashed potatoes. Many of the potatoes were green under the skin, so I was glad to have enough food to get away with peeling them (peels are food too)! I drained the water (which I saved for later), added 4 T oil, and mashed. I'll use there as a base for other things. The total came to $0.62 as follows:

4lbs of mashed potatoes

18 potatoes: $0.36
2 tsp salt: $0.02
4 T oil: $0.24

I'll expect 10 portions from this, or about $0.06 each.

Then I prepped what I'm called "shepherd's pie." I used the salted potato water to boil up 3 helpings of lentils. In another pan, I sautéed onions, carrots, and tomatoes with salt and oil, and added the cooked lentils. I'll top this with potatoes for an easy lunch dish during the week. I made four servings of shepherd's pie filling:

3/4 C lentils: $0.33
3 servings onion: $0.30

Prepping shepherd's pie portions for the week - $0.37 each

3 carrots: $0.21
3 tomatoes: $0.21
3 T oil: $0.18
1 tsp salt: $0.01

Which comes to $0.31 per serving + $0.06 of mashed potato on top.

I also prepped some carrot sticks for snacks at work.

So what did I actually eat today?

Breakfast:

Shortly after finishing two boiled potatoes, I ate a quick salad of 1 carrot, 1 tomato, a sliver of onion, salt and vinegar. These tomatoes are super sweet. It was crisp and bright. Very delicious! Used up a total of $0.20 this morning.

2 potatoes: $0.04
1 carrot: $0.07
1 tomato: $0.07
Vinegar: $0.02

I used so little onion, I'm not even counting it in the calculation.

Lunch:

Shepherd's pie for lunch - $0.37

One portion of the "shepherd's pie" for $0.37. This was quite tasty and satisfying (my partner wanted to eat some but resisted)! I'm up to $0.57 for the day, leaving a huge $0.93 for dinner!

Dinner:
I decided on stuffed cabbage rolls. It's something I've never made, but figured it wouldn't be too tough. I peeled off 5 large leaves from the head of cabbage and boiled for a few minutes in salt water. I cooked one onion in a tablespoon of oil with a dash of salt until crispy. Then added one portion of mashed potatoes and another tablespoon of oil. I cooked 1/2 cup dry lentils. When the lentils were soft, I added those too. This became my stuffing for the cabbage leaves. I was worried that some of the cabbage leaves were pretty torn up when I took them off the head. But this didn't seem to matter when it came to stuffing. Everything wrapped up nice and tidy.

Stuffing the cabbage leaves. The torn leaves worked just fine!

Traditionally, stuffed cabbage is cooked with tomato sauce. I quartered 4 tomatoes and cooked them in a pan with oil, salt, and vinegar (these are sweet tomatoes, so I wanted to add some acid). I layered the stuffed cabbages on top and covered. Many of the recipes I found online say to cook for another 40-90 minutes. I think those recipes have raw meat in them. I certainly don't want to cook my cabbage that long! I gave it about 15.

I had so much money left for dinner that I didn't pay close attention to how much I was spending. Let's see how I came out:

Pretty! Cooking stuffed cabbage with tomatoes - $0.18 each

1/8 cabbage: $0.13
1/2 cup lentils: $0.22
1 portion mashed potatoes: $0.06
1 onion: $0.10
4 tomatoes: $0.28
3 T oil: $0.18
1 T vinegar: $0.02
2 tsp salt: $0.02

Whoa, I cut that close. $0.91 or about $0.18 per roll. Bringing the day's total to $1.48, or so I thought. Those cabbage rolls were big! And even though I was really hungry, I only ate two (including the biggest one). I'm saving the other three for a future meal or snacks. So really, dinner was $0.37. That makes my total food for the day $0.94.

You know what that means!? Room for tea!! At $0.16/tea bag, I've never had room for tea in the past. And I'll even have a spoonful of sugar, which the internet tells me is $0.02. Ending the day at $1.12. I'm not hungry - thanks to that lucky 10lb bag of potatoes. I am already getting tired of potato though, and we're on day one! But so far, I'm in good spirits and feeling like I can take out the next four days without a problem.

Don't forget that this is a fundraiser to fight against extreme poverty and hunger, and I'd love to have your support. Consider making a donation to The Hunger Project.

I picked the tomatoes. LBTL 2015: Preparation

This 10lb bag of B sized potatoes
needs washing and counting

After bringing all my items home from the 99 cent Only store, I still had to decide which item I would exclude (I'd bought one too many). I figured I'd think it over as I prepped the rest of my food.

When buying food on the cheap, you may end up with some items that have bad spots, or even a few rotten ones buried in the middle of the bag. I want to know right away whether my food quantity will be reduced, and whether there are some items "on the brink" that I'll need to use first.

All the potatoes got a good washing and were counted: 55 small potatoes. Not one needed to be thrown out, but many are tinged green under the skin. I'll want to peel these. Some of the carrots had nasty ends that needed to be cut off, but were other wise in good shape: 14 carrots. The onions were removed from their bag and inspected, and none of them seemed to be rotten: 6 small ones, 2 large. I'll cut the large ones in half. That will give me 10 portions. The cabbage comes out of its bag. Looks to be in great shape. I'll divide this into 8 portions. Count the little grape tomatoes: 14. Lentils have info on the back of the package. A serving is 1/4 cup dry, and there are 9 servings in the bag. I'll stick with their measurements. Chick peas are the same.

My cheat sheet for the week, rounded to the nearest penny

Once I know how much I have, I do some simple math to come up with the price per portion. This is how I know whether I'm on budget for the day, and how much each meal costs. I usually write this all out on scratch paper, but this year I made a spread sheet to share with you. You'll see a lot of my calculations are per item, rather than per weight or measurement. There's usually a big fluctuation in size from one potato to another (especially when your bag of potatoes is "off-brand" from the 99 cent Only store). But I find this makes my day-to-day cooking much easier. I don't have a kitchen scale, and I wouldn't really want to weigh each portion anyway. Much easier to grab one potato, and know that it's $0.02.

And now to decide what to cut...

I thought about the kinds of recipes I would make with each item. I looked at the weather. I talked with my partner. Finally, I decided to cut the chick peas. It's going to be chilly most of the next week. I'll want a lot of warm foods, like soups. Chick peas are better in salads (or at least that's how I prepped them last year). No crackers or bread to have with a hummus. No curry powered or coconut milk to make a chick pea curry. And I don't think chick peas are as great a match with potatoes as lentils or cabbage.

A ton of food for $6.00. My staples for the next 5 days.
Oil, salt and vinegar (and maybe tea!) will take $1.50.

When deciding on my staples, I was really thinking about what sorts of recipes I'd make with them. I'm picturing mashed potatoes with a stew of lentil/tomato/onion on top, like a shepherd's pie. I'm thinking potato and cabbage soup. I'm thinking potato carrot puree (though, I sort of feel like using my Vitamix is cheating). Carrot sticks and tomatoes as a snack. Fried tomatoes, potatoes, and onions for breakfast. A slaw of cabbage, carrot, onion, and tomato. Baked potato with caramelized onion on top. Roasted root vegetables and cabbage with a side of lentils.

I know I'll have enough food with the potatoes, so I hope I'm making the right choice to leave the chick peas behind and choose those tomatoes. I do feel like I'm taking a risk here - eliminating a protein in favor of flavor. But it's only 5 days, so no big deal. It's only 5 days. For me. What if it weren't? What if $1.50 had no end in sight, and I didn't know how long it would be until I could afford a "real meal"? Would I make the same choice? Probably not. I think I would have skipped the tomatoes and gone for the chick peas. More protein. More fat. More food.

Challenges like Live Below the Line have been criticized for giving people like me a false experience of poverty. First, I don't think they claim to be offering a true-to-life poverty experience. At it's core, this is an awareness and fundraising stunt - just like a running a marathon or shaving your head against cancer. I've never walked away from this thinking I know what it means to live in extreme poverty. But it does help make some of these abstract concepts a little more accessible. For example, world food price fluctuations mean something to me now. When you're counting every penny, a change in grain prices determines whether or not you go to bed hungry this week. I'm not poor, so food price fluctuations don't hurt me. But I have a little more understanding and empathy than I did before I took this challenge.

Of course living on a tight food budget for 5 days is not an approximation of living in poverty. If that is ever in doubt, just remember: I picked the tomatoes.

LBL is a fundraiser, and I hope you'll take a stand against extreme poverty and support me by contributing to The Hunger Project.

Shopping for Live Below the Line, 2015

I've decided to take the Live Below the Line challenge for a third year: Spend no more than $1.50 per day for food and drink for 5 days.

I'm starting my challenge a week earlier than the rest of the crowd. I'll be traveling for work during the designated time, which means it would be impossible for me to do it. I won't have access to a kitchen, and I'm certain homeland security won't let me get on the plane with jars of soup in my bag. So, I'm starting April 19th! It's a good reminder of lessons I've learned in the past when taking this challenge: poverty means few choices. What a privilege to choose when I will eat meals that cost only pennies...

Select your beans carefully. Those pretty yellow ones only
have 4 grams of protein per 1/4 cup. Lentils have 13. 

I've been scoping out my trusty 99 cent Only store for a few weeks to get a sense of what I might be able to buy this year. Last year, a 5lb bag of potatoes really saved me from hunger. Can I find that again? They frequently have bags of dried beans and legumes: 1lb bag for $1. But selection fluctuates, sometimes dramatically. Every once in a while, I'll find 2lb bags of pinto beans for $1.

I've figured out a good system for this challenge in the past, I think. Buy 6 staples at $1 each, and leave $1.50 for seasoning (oil and salt). The staples need to be easily mixed and matched, with qualities that allow them to be prepared in many different ways - lack of variety is one thing that makes this challenge so tough. So after a few laps around the 99 cent Only store, looking for items with the most weight, and some careful analysis of the fat and protein content in the bean options, here's what I found in my basket:

• Potatoes: 10lbs for a $1. Obvious. 10lbs!! I may get board, but I won't be hungry. No way I'll eat all of these.
• There was a 2lb bag of carrots. Can't pass that up. Great for cooking and for a raw snack. 
• 2lb of onions? Essential flavor ingredient. Sold! 
• A big head of cabbage for something green. Great in soup, roasted, or as a salad. 
• And look at those plump grape tomatoes on the vine! Lots of flavor in only 3/4lb.
• A bag of lentils, good for protein. Toss with tomatoes and onions for a salad, or add to soup.
• And a bag of chickpeas! Good protein and high fat (for a bean). I made some great meals with chickpeas last year.

But that's seven items. $7. That would leave me with only $0.50 for salt and oil. And that's not enough. Salt is really important to making food palatable. And oil? Aside from the added flavor and the practicality of preventing food from sticking to the pan, this is pretty much the only source of fat! There is no way you can stay full without it.

I snapped this photo on my scouting trip last
week. There were only a few bags left today.

I thought long and hard about what to cut from my basket, and how that would change my meals... "Can I buy the potatoes and just act as if they were $0.10/lb, and I only bought 4lbs? I could free up $0.60 that way. But that would be cheating." Seasonings (like salt and oil) are the only things you are allowed to buy in bulk and count only the portion you use during the 5 days. "Maybe I should nix the tomatoes. They are the least amount of food for the price. But I want the flavor! And besides, I'm not going to get hungry with 10lbs of potatoes at my disposal!" I was so grateful for the tomatoes I had last year... On and on I went, considering each item in the basket again and again. Until finally, I left the store with all seven. I couldn't decide. "I'll choose when I get home" I thought, and went to pay with a little wave of guilt. "I have the privilege of deciding later. I have more than $6 in my pocket..."

In the check out line, the woman in front of me looked back and sized up my basket. "Your head of cabbage is only one pound. Mine is it two pounds!" she chided. She held hers up in one hand and grabbed mine with the other to prove her point. I looked at them side by side. The cabbages had the same label, which did not indicate weight. But hers was obviously bigger than mine. "See!? They charge by the head! If you're going to shop here you need to be smart about it!" she admonished. I thought I had been...

LBTL 2014: Day 5

Final breakfast

Challenge complete.

Today was easy. I lose my appetite when the whether gets hot, and it was hot in Los Angeles today. I started the morning with a fried potato and 1/2 onion: $0.18.

For lunch, I finished left over mashed potatoes from the night before ($0.20) and made the same salad of cabbage, onion, and tomato, but with the rest of the navy beans in place of the garbanzos ($0.60). I finished my lunch for dinner.

Total for the day: $0.98.

I very nearly ate some chocolate covered pretzels tonight, but my partner shook his head at me when I reached for them.

So that's the end. Pretty anti-climactic. I've got a fair amount of food left - enough to take me for another day or two. This year was a far cry from last year. Last year it took all my strength and will power to make it through. I was hungry and weak and tired. Amazing what a difference those extra calories made.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my challenge. If you haven't yet, it would be great to have your support. Contributions are accepted through May 31, 2014. Every dollar goes toward helping those in extreme poverty receive health care, through a highly effective organization called Possible.

LBTL 2014: Day 4

More garbanzo and cabbage salad, no complaints

My partner had a gig last night so I was up late, forgot to set an alarm, and had to rush out the door to work. No time for breakfast, but I some how managed to pack up a lunch: the same garbanzo/cabbage salad as the day before, and the last of the soup I had for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. Not bad. All that food came to $0.86.

The last of the soup - finally!

Dinner. I had seconds.

For dinner, I made mashed potatoes and navy beans and tomato. The potatoes weren't half bad. While boiling the potatoes, I sauteed some diced onions in two tablespoons of oil to mix in. I had also saved the water I cooked the garbanzo beans in, and mixed some of that in too. The mashed potatoes were fluffy and mildly flavorful. I warmed up the beans and fried up the tomatoes. $0.27 for the mashed potatoes, $0.13 for the tomato, and $0.15 for the beans brought dinner to $0.55.

Today's total: $1.41

I took stock of the food I have left for tomorrow, and I have more than enough: 6 potatoes, 4 onions, 1/4 of the cabbage, 1 tomato, a serving of navy beans, and 2 servings of garbanzos. The only reason I've made it this far without going hungry was that lucky buy of 5lbs of potatoes for $1.00. I've eaten about 1lb of potatoes each day during the challenge. What if those potatoes hadn't been there? What if I had been shopping a week earlier, when the largest bag of potatoes for $1.00 was 2lbs? Instead of 25 potatoes, I would have had only 10. And they would have cost me $0.10 a piece, instead of $0.04. This was nearly a miserable week. But fortune smiled upon me.

There's some weird irony in eating this way. My diet this week has been vegan (well, it's always vegan), gluten-free, with no refined sugar. Isn't this the diet celebrities pay tons of money to go on? I've been on it for four days, and it's only cost me $5.37. They must be doing something wrong.

I'm looking forward to saturday morning breakfast. I'll have a nice cup of earl grey with soy milk, a grapefruit, maybe a piece of toast. Begin the count down.

LBTL 2014: Day 3

Small foods from the dollar store

I've finally passed the halfway point in the challenge. Thank goodness! It's meant so much to me to have the support of my friends, family, and co-workers. It's kept me going strong. I'm more than 1/3 of the way to my fundraising goal of $1,500, and my team made it into the top 10 LBTL fundraisers today.

Breakfast was pretty much the same as Monday and Tuesday. Two fried potatoes, but with half an onion instead of tomato. I'm down to my final three tomatoes, and I wanted to stretch them. Breakfast came to $0.23.

Roasted potatoes for dinner

Lunch was a repeat of Monday night's dinner, but a bit larger: a bed of cabbage with tomato, garbanzo beans, and onion on top. I kept up the same system of eating my lunch in small portions throughout the day. Lunch cost $0.60.

Dinner was five roasted potatoes and a roasted onion. Ok, it wasn't very balanced, but I was tired and didn't want to think of something clever to make out of the same six ingredients I've been eating the last three days. Not to mention, I'm running low on beans, but I've got lots of potatoes left.

Five potatoes may sound like a lot to eat at one meal, but these dollar store potatoes are quite small for russets (the label says B size). In fact, the onions and tomatoes are quite small too. This has made my calculations much simpler. I was able to count the number of items in each package and assign a standard price per item, without having to measure and divide up portions.

5lb bag of potatoes contained 25 potatoes = $0.04 per potato

2lb bag of onions contained 10 onions = $0.10 per onion

1lb package of tomatoes contained 8 tomatoes = $0.13 per tomato

My tea cup of warm water

Anyway, dinner of five potatoes ($0.20), one onion ($0.10), two tablespoons of oil ($0.10), salt to taste ($0.01) came to $0.41.

Total for the day: $1.24.

Man, I could have had a cup of tea, but I never know until the end of the day! It's just not worth the risk. Besides, the warm water in my tea cup has become pretty good (I might be losing it). I planned to make something for lunch tomorrow, but I didn't have time. I suppose I'll make the same salad I had today. And I still have a serving of the navy bean and cabbage soup left.

LBTL 2014: Day 2

Moldy tomato means less food.

Yesterday for breakfast, I cooked up one potato and the tomato that was kinda squashed and moldy. After cutting away the moldy part, I only had half a tomato left. And it's not like I could get a refund for the half I threw out. It cost me as if I'd eaten the whole thing. Spoilage is a lot more upsetting when you don't have the money to replace the food you've lost.

Breakfast today was the same as yesterday, but it was twice as much food. After ending day 1 with $0.27 to spare, I figured I could beef up my breakfast. I fried up two of my baked potatoes ($0.08) and one tomato ($0.13) in a tablespoon of canola oil ($0.05). Today's breakfast cost a total of $0.26.

Eating soup throughout the work day, 1/3 gone.

Dinner of fried beans and potatoes with tomatoes on top

I made it through work yesterday on two portions of that yummy navy bean and cabbage soup. But I also left work an hour earlier than planned (tech issues were interfering with the day), and I was pretty hungry when I got out of there. So today I brought three portions of soup, and I was glad that I did. I ate breakfast at 8:45am, the first portion of soup at 11:30am, the second at 1:30pm, and the last around 4:00pm. Eating small portions throughout the day keeps hunger at bay. Total cost for midday soup was $0.78.

I had to plan dinner carefully, as I had only $0.45 left. Sure, dinner last night came out to $0.45, but I just threw things together and added up the cost later, since I was certain I was well below my $1.50 limit. Tonight I took a baked potato ($0.04), a small scoop of garbanzo beans ($0.04), and a small scoop of navy beans ($0.04) and mashed them up together. I added some diced onion, salt, and oil ($0.09) and the seeds/juice from the tomato I diced for the top ($0.13 for the entire tomato). I mashed it all together and formed three oval patties, then sort of deep fried them in two tablespoons of oil ($0.10). You can't really tell from the picture, but there are three crumbly patties on that plate. I topped it with the rest of the tomato and a pinch of salt. The was a good meal below the line. Having something fried and crispy on the outside felt nourishing. The patties soaked up all the oil, and that extra fat will keep me very full no doubt. Dinner came to $0.44.

Total for the day: $1.49. One penny to spare.

Thanks to my dollar store grocery shopping win, I haven't had to face hunger on this year's challenge (I feel like a cheater!). But I have felt deprived and a little annoyed. Only two days in, and I'm bored. I want a cup of tea. I want a grapefruit. I want a piece of chocolate. I've been drinking warm water from my tea cup in a pathetic attempt to make up for the tea I drink throughout the day. It sort of helps. Even though I've been pretty creative with my ingredients, I'm already getting tired of the six staples I have to keep me going: potatoes, garbanzo beans, navy beans, cabbage, tomatoes, onions. Even though they are wholesome and I should be grateful to have them, the thought of eating them again tomorrow is starting to make me nauseous. 

Ever hear of the loaf?

LBTL 2014: Day 1

$0.26 breakfast, a small fried potato and tomato

Today wasn't nearly as hard as day 1 last year. Perhaps it is because I knew what to expect. Or maybe I was just able to buy more food this year. Probably a combination of the two. But I didn't go hungry. Breakfast was a fried potato and a fried tomato. I had planned to skip breakfast, remembering that last year it helped a lot to delay my first meal until 11am. But I was really hungry. Breakfast came to $0.26.

$0.45 dinner, chickpea onion tomato and cabbage salad

During the day, I ate two portions (four cups) of the navy bean and cabbage soup I had made the night before. I had one portion around 11:15am, and I second portion around 1:30pm. Lunch and second lunch cost $0.52. I remember from last year that letting myself get too hungry was a big down fall. I'm used to snacking throughout the day, so frequent munching is key.

By the time I got home for dinner, I was hungry. I cooked up the chickpeas and tossed 1/6 of them with chopped tomato, half an onion, some salt and oil. The tomato was so juicy, it made a nice dressing when mixed with the salt and oil. I poured the whole thing on top of some shredded cabbage (1/8th of the head of cabbage I started with). It was delicious. Dinner came to $0.45.

I'm at $1.23 for the day. I could have squeezed in a cup of tea!

Though I haven't had to face hunger like I did last year (yet), I am keenly aware of the stress. There is a deep, almost primal fear of scarcity that the challenge brings out in me. All day, I worry that I will not have enough.

If you would like to help those who actually do not have enough, please give and support my Live Below the Line challenge. https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire

Prepping for Live Below the Line, 2014

5 days of food, 2013 I decided to take on the Live Below the Line challenge again this year. Since going through the challenge last year, I've been paying much closer attention to what I eat and how much it costs. In fact, I've dedicated one credit card to only food purchases, so I can more easily track how much I spend on dining in and dining out. Dining out has become far less frequent for me. My food bill averages $6.00 or $7.00 per day. I'm feeling optimistic about this year's challenge. I've discovered that I can get good deals on food from the dollar store, and I've been watching food prices and availability there closely over the last few months. The available produce can be hit or miss, and the quantity you get for $1.00 fluctuates greatly from week to week. Even on off days, the dollar store prices beat any traditional grocery store in my area. When I headed to the dollar store to shop for my meals for the next five days, I was hoping to get lucky. Thankfully, they had a 5lb bag of potatoes for only $1.00. That isn't always the case, and I could have found myself with less than 2lbs for that price. The extra potatoes will help significantly with my challenge. Perhaps I won't be hungry. I was hoping to get 2lbs of tomatoes for $1.00, like I saw a few weeks ago. They only had 1lb packages, but I decided to get them anyway. They did have 2lb bags of onions for $1.00, which is was very pleased about. This exercise in watching food prices fluctuate has made me think about how a small change in the price of rice or wheat or corn can have a huge impact on the food security of those living in extreme poverty. 5 days of food, 2014 My grocery list this year consists of all dollar store buys totaling $6.00: 5lbs small russet baker potatoes (B size) 2lbs small white onions 1lb tomatoes 1 head of cabbage 1lb dried chickpeas 3/4lb navy beans I was sad to realize when I got home that the package of navy beans I'd grabbed wasn't a full pound, like the chickpeas. I'll be alright with all those potatoes though! I was also sad to find that one of the eight tomatoes in my packages was smashed and moldy. I sliced off the bad part and threw it away. So with $6.00 spent, I have $1.50 left for seasoning: canola oil ($0.05 per tablespoon) and salt ($0.03 per tablespoon). Maybe I can even manage a little vinegar to make a salad with my tomatoes and cabbage. I baked some of my potatoes today so I can easily fry them up as hash browns. I soaked the navy beans and cooked them up. Half of them went into a soup I prepared with 1/4 of the cabbage, two onions, and five potatoes. The navy bean and cabbage soup will give me five 2-cup portions during the challenge. The ingredients for the soup came to $1.28, or $0.26 per portion. I will have some of the soup for lunch at work tomorrow... probably two portions.

Conspicuous consumption

My hero Peter Singer just wrote a nice little piece about conspicuous consumption called Why Pay More.

I often blog about conspicuous consumption, but rarely name it. To me, it is perhaps the most disgusting and most damaging way of being selfish. In a nut shell, conspicuous consumption is "keeping up with the Jones's" - spending resources on unnecessary or luxury items as a way of signaling status. Examples of conspicuous consumption include purchases of designer clothing/accessories/furniture, oversized living spaces/cars, pedigree companion animals, weddings, lavish vacations, and any purchase you'd want to brag about or that would impress your peer group. Think about purchases or experiences you post on Facebook. Think about your boards on Pinterest. Can you see conspicuous consumption at work in your own life?

The reason that I believe conspicuous consumption is worse than private indulgence is conspicuous consumption places social pressure on others to spend as you spend. Not only do you use your own resources selfishly, but you encourage others to do the same. Even worse, there's a "one-upping" that's expected - you spent 5 days in London, but I spent 5 days in London AND 3 days in Rome. And all that unnecessary spending could have saved lives.

Extremely large, public gifts to charity are also considered conspicuous consumption, as they raise the status of those making the gift. This is the one form of conspicuous consumption I support and applaud, for exactly the reason I stated above: it encourages others to do the same. The charitable gifts made by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet have made way for other billionaires to follow suit.

Conspicuous consumption is deeply embedded in American culture, self-identity, and group-identity. It is extremely important to recognize the way in which conspicuous consumption directs our spending habits, and thus "ties up" money that we should be free to give away.

To change our culture, to value compassion over selfishness and altruistic actions over "stuff", we must celebrate and elevate those who defy conspicuous consumption, like Uruguay's 'poor' president Jose Mujica. And we should feel disgusted and outraged by public displays of luxury and indulgence, not envious.


-Selfish Blogger

I lived below the line without harming animals

Global Poverty Project, the organization that runs the Live Below the Line challenge, gives lots of advice and support to help people figure out how to live on $1.50 a day in the US, £1 a day in the UK, and $2 in Australia. They connect you with other folks taking the challenge, suggest shopping lists and recipes, and share tips on fundraising.

One piece of advice that I certainly didn't use was their recommendation to eat eggs for a cheap source of protein during the Live Below the Line challenge. While eggs might be a cheap source of food for you and me, the cost to the chickens who lay them is more than anyone should be willing to pay.

After dairy, eggs are the most confusing item on the "do not eat" list of my vegan lifestyle. I think the confusion comes from most people picturing happy, fat, egg laying hens running around green fields with their brood in the sunshine, laying eggs in a soft nest of grass and hay, which friendly farmers gently collect and then sell. The reality couldn't be farther from the truth.

Chickens forced to lay eggs for human consumption live in dark, cramped cages. Most never see the sun or feel grass beneath their feet. They stand or lay on wire cages 24 hours a day, hurting their feet. They don't have perches to roost in, no nests to snuggle into at night. They don't even have the space to stretch out their wings. Their cages are cramped so close together that the chickens are covered in feces and urine. The smell is overwhelming. A portion of the chickens' beaks are cut or seared off, without pain killers, so the chickens won't peck their neighbors. It is animal cruelty. It is torture.

And if you think you're doing chickens a favor by paying extra for cage free or free range eggs: think again. In cage free egg production, chickens are not condemned to a life in wire cages, but are instead crammed into huge barns where they are forced to stand in their own waste, causing terrible sores on their feet. The ammonia fumes burn their delicate bird respiratory system, and cause painful lesions on their lungs. Some will die from respiratory failure caused by the inhumane conditions they are forced to live in. The overcrowding of the chickens is so extreme, many cannot navigate their way to food and water. They starve, and their dead bodies are left among their living sisters.

When you buy eggs, that's what you are paying for. You are paying someone to continue the torture of these smart, social, sentient birds.

It is easy for me to empathize with chickens: I grew up with them. My family cared for chickens in our big back yard - years before we adopted a dog, before my little sister was born. They were my first friends.

Happy chickens run around in the sunshine eating weeds and bugs. They pile into the dirt with their sister and take "dust baths" to keep away mites. They chase each other. They talk to each other constantly (they have a LOT to say). They wait to get pets on their backs from their human friends. They follow their human and dog friends around the yard. They help each other. One of the chickens we care for now was born with a deformed beak. She can't close her mouth as a result, and it is difficult for her to eat and drink. She spills water down her front, and food cakes on her feather. We were sure this hook-billed chicken (her name is Hooky) wouldn't live very long. But Hooky's sister watched out for her. They let her dive into the food pile first so she can get her fill. They gently peck the caked-on food off of her feathers to keep her front clean. Today, Hooky has outlived half her clan. She is eight years old - quite an old lady for a hen! To think of Hooky living in an egg production facility breaks my heart.

It is one thing to live below the global poverty line. It's something else to live below the line of common decency - that's a line I refuse to live below. And that's why I didn't buy eggs this week. That's why I never eat eggs.


-Selfish Blogger

Grateful

I'm feeling very grateful right now.

The carrot I snacked on just before lunch was so pleasant and crisp. As I chewed, I became mindful of just how much I was enjoying it. I'm eating my lentils for lunch right now, and they really aren't that bad. I have something to eat. That is a gift.

Three more donations came in through my page - two from friends and family who have already given. I'm feeling supported and loved. And I'm feeling hopeful that there are many people in the world who care about fairness; who care about ending injustice; and who are willing to do something to make the world "more right." $385 to go to reach my goal of raising $1,000 for CARE.

I'm feeling relieved that I'm almost done with the challenge. It is exhausting to count every bite of food; to restrain yourself from eating more now, because you know you need to save something for tomorrow. And it is demoralizing to eat the same thing day in and day out. I have felt a lot of bitterness during the past few days, but having support from my friends and family has really carried me through. This challenge takes an emotional toll. Poverty takes an emotional toll.

Here's my food break down for the day so far:

Breakfast (a poor girl's version of tofu scramble) totaled $0.48
4 oz tofu = $.025
1/8 onion = $.06
1/16 cabbage = $0.6
1 Tbs oil = $0.10
salt to taste = $0.01

Snack (1 carrot) totaled $0.10

Lunch (1 cup lentils) totaled $0.27

$0.85 gone. $0.65 for the late afternoon and dinner.

I can't wait for my first meal tomorrow...

I hope you'll give if you haven't already: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day five below the line

It's the final count down! I took survey of what I've got left.

8 oz tofu = $0.49
2 cups cooked lentils = $0.54
1/4 onion = $0.13
1/8 head of cabbage = $0.12
1 carrot = $0.10

For a grand total of $1.38. That leaves some space change for a bit of oil and salt. The problem is that, with the exception of the carrot perhaps, I don't want to eat any of it. I'm trying to think of ways to make my final day of food palatable, but without access of herbs and spices and some additional ingredients, there's very little I can do to hide the fact that I'm eating the same food that I've eaten for the last four days. Time to buck up and power through. That's what people in extreme poverty have to do every day.

Here we go!

I've got $475 left to raise to help people who live on less every single day of the year (ugh, I can't even imagine!). Will you chip in $50?
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

End of day four

Today was fairly uneventful. My lentil soup carried me through the day. I ate some every couple of hours, and by the end of the work day I had finished the whole thing. I left work to finish cleaning out my old place. Spent about two hours there, then drove home. It was time to eat dinner, but I started to feel sick of lentils the same way I started to feel sick of peas. I pulled some lentils out of the fridge (portion three of five). I tried to think of an ingenious way to make them into something else. Nothing I could dream up would fit into the rest of my budget for the day. I ate them cold, leaving 1/4 cup behind.

My total at the end of the day was $1.20.

I hope you'll contribute if you haven't already! https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day four below the line

Soup for the day

Skipping breakfast again. I cooked up a big batch of soup to carry me through the full day at work.

1 cup peas (the last of 'em) = $0.38

1 cup lentils = $0.27

1/8 head of cabbage = $0.12

1/4 onion = $0.12

2 Tbs oil = $0.10

$0.99 total. It's my final day as Executive Director of the arts nonprofit I've been running for eight years. I need to be on my game to train the new person.

I only have two days left in the challenge, but I'm only half way to my fundraising goal! Will you help? https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/

-Selfish Blogger

Bonus lentils!

Tonight's dinner. All my meals are starting to look the same...

I've cooked up my lentils for dinner tonight and other meals tomorrow  (please don't make me eat more peas!). I paid $1.33 for 2 cups of dried lentils. I expected them to cook up to 4 cups. But lucky me: they cooked up into 5 cups! Instead of paying $0.33 per serving, I paid $0.27 per serving. That extra $0.06 will go far.

I don't have a kitchen scale, so I've been tracking my costs and volume of what I eat by portioning, and sometimes storing each portion in a separate container. For dried goods (lentils and peas in my case) I cooked the entire batch, then measured them out into cup-sized portions into individual containers. I cut my tofu into eight equal segments of approximately 2 oz. each. I quartered my cabbage and my onion. Oil, salt and sugar live in big containers, and I measure out the amount I need for a particular purpose.

Portioned lentils for the next two days

It looks like more work than it is. I'm surprised at how easy this part of the challenge has been.

For dinner, I'm frying up my lentils with salt, oil, crumbled tofu, and onion. I really want to fat from the oil. The cost is as follows:

1 cup cooked lentils = $0.27
2 oz tofu = $0.12
1/4 onion (less 3 Tbs from my snack) = $0.10
2 Tbs oil = $0.10
Salt to taste = $0.01

Dinner tonight will cost $0.60, which means I'll have $0.30 left over!!! Watch out $0.33 cookie - I will eat most of you.

The one thing that would make me happier than a cookie is reaching my $1,000 fundraising goal to help people living in extreme poverty. Donate here: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger